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palm oil Rice

Also known as palm oil Rice (Quick Budget Staple)

palm oil Rice is the simplest, most honest Nigerian rice dish — white rice cooked with palm oil, onion, crayfish, pepper and seasoning, producing a warmly coloured, boldly flavoured rice that requires no additional stew or soup. Every Nigerian home cook has made palm oil Rice at some point — it is the fallback meal when nothing else is available, the quick meal when there is no time for elaborate cooking, and the honest expression of what good Nigerian seasoning can do to pla

palm oil Rice, Nigerian cooking

Ingredients

  • 3 big cups of long-grain rice, washed
  • 2 cooking spoons of palm oil
  • 1 big onion, sliced
  • 2 Atarodo (hot chilli peppers), blended
  • 2 big handfuls of ground dried crayfish
  • 2 seasoning cubes (Knorr), crushed
  • Salt to taste
  • Water as needed

Method

  1. 01

    Toasting the Rice in palm oil. Heat palm oil in a wide pot. Add sliced onion and fry 2 minutes. Add blended Atarodo and fry 3 minutes. Add the washed rice. Stir the rice in the hot palm oil and Atarodo for 3 minutes — this lightly toasts the rice and coats each grain in the orange-red palm oil.

  2. 02

    Adding the Seasonings. Add ground crayfish, seasoning cubes and salt. Stir well to distribute all seasonings.

  3. 03

    Adding Water and Cooking. Add water — enough to cover the rice by 1 finger-width above the rice level. The water should be well-seasoned from the palm oil and spices. Stir once. Cover tightly. Cook on medium heat for 20 minutes without opening.

  4. 04

    Serving. After 20 minutes, open and fluff gently with a fork. The rice should be beautifully orange-red, each grain separated and deeply flavoured. Taste and adjust. Serve hot.

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